Missouri's Barry Odom Is Furious with Tennessee and Others for Recruiting His Seniors

The Missouri football team has been banned by the NCAA from playing in any bowl games in 2019. And because of some new rules permitting seniors to transfer without sitting out if their school has been penalized in such a way, Tigers coach Barry Odom says he’s having to recruit his seniors all over again as the rest of the SEC — mainly Tennessee — slides into his players’ DMs.

“Everybody is going to have a bad day,” Odom said, expressing his frustration with keeping his players from transferring. “You combine that with somebody that — who’d we beat 51-17 this year? Tennessee? Yeah, those guys. They are non-stop reaching out daily [saying], ‘Hey, come here.’ The grass is not always greener somewhere else.”

Tennessee did not have a comment when contacted by CBS Sports about Odom’s stance.

Missouri hasn’t yet lost any transfers, but to hear Odom tell it, it’s a feeding frenzy out there, and he plans to light up the rest of the league’s coaches when they get together for the SEC coaches’ meeting Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala.

The coach said that he has “made a number of calls” to conference peers pursuing his players. This comes in advance of Wednesday’s annual SEC coaches’ meeting at the league headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama.

“I haven’t gotten return phone calls,” Odom said.

“I know there is a handful of guys who are talking daily to my players,” he added. “That’s going to be a fun luncheon tomorrow.”